The Lighthouse
by Viki Carter
Summary: Hermione has finally got a job, but will she like her new colleague? Will they ever find a way to get along?
1. Chapter 1

A.N This is going to be my first proper story, so it probably wont be too long! Next chapter will be up very soon! Reviews welcome:)

Hermione sat at her usual desk in the Gryffindor common room, perched on the end of her chair, writing away on the parchment spread out across the small table, a single mug of tea sitting beside her. It was not long before a full page had been written out, and a deep sign of relief escaped her pale lips as she set down her quill. Reading over the parchment again she smiled to herself as Ron and Harry sat down on the chairs opposite her,  
"What you writing 'Mione? asked Ron  
"I have just finished writing out my Curriculum Vitae"  
"Your what?!" asked the two boys in unison.  
She rolled her eyes, she should have know they wouldn't know what it was, "My CV," she reassured them, however Ron still looked puzzled, "to get a job, it's all the qualification's I've got, my OWLs and that."  
"Bit early isn't it? To be thinking of getting a job?" asked Ron, who scratched his head in ore of the amount of qualifications written down.  
"I'm eighteen in a few months Ronald! It's about time I got a job, don't you think? Here, I've written out some letter's of application," she fumbled with the parchment spread before her and pulled out a sheet, showing the two boys, "I'm going to hand them out to the shops in Hogsmeade, see if I can get a saturday job. You can come with me of you like. Now if you don't mind I'm going to find a picture to stick on here and then go to the library to make copies." she stated quickly, standing up and turning her back on her friends.  
"Too much effort if you ask me," Ron whispered to Harry, causing Hermione to turn her head and glare at him. "How is it she hears everything?" The red headed boy asked Harry.  
"No idea."

The next day Hermione set out, with Ron and Harry in tow, to Hogsmeade, arms laden with envelopes containing CVs and Letters of Applications. The three made the familiar trip down to the village, chatting all along the way. Hermione couldn't help but smile as the blazing heat beat down on the friends, they had all been through so much together, and even though they upset her at times, she loved them. Soon they were in the heart of the small village and set out looking for possible job opportunities.  
"Hello Mrs Flume," Hermione said sweetly once reaching the till at Honeydukes, I wondered if I could apply for a job? I have my details here." She explained simply, pulling out yet another crisp envelope from the pile, of which the plump woman took and smiled.  
After a few hours, and almost every shop and bar having Hermione's CV, they started to walk back up to the castle.  
Just in the edge of the village, was a large building, towering over the smaller shops with it's bright yellow sloping walls. After little debate the three headed inside to find it was a new bar that bad just opened that day, after speaking to the owner Hermione left the last envelope with the kind woman.  
"I hope you get a job now, I'm starving!" Ron mumbled, looking down at his belly as they headed back into the warm sun.  
"Do you ever think of anything but your stomach?" Hermione stated, even though, she too, was starting to get a little hungry, "I do hope I get a job though," she sighed.  
"Where would you want one though?" Asked Harry, smiling at his friend.  
"Honeydukes." Ron sighed, looking up to the sky, almost dribbling at the prospect of working in such a place, surrounded by sweets.  
"Hmm, Mr Flume is a very nice man, as is his wife, but I think I'd love to work... somewhere like the Three Broomsticks." she eventually concluded  
"Why there?" asked Harry as they reached the wooden bridge  
"Oh I don't know, you'd just meet so many new people in a bar, and it's not like a shop when people are just in and out, but you'll have time to chat with customers and learn more about them."  
The boys agreed, "I'd still prefer Honeydukes though." stated Ron dreamily.

As she lay in bed that night, unable to sleep, she wondered about what it would actually be like to work in The Three Broomsticks, she had never really thought about it before, what it would be like to work behind a bar, serving pints of butterbeer and shots of firewhiskey to unfamiliar witches and wizards, as well as her classmates. She could see herself there though, her messy brown hair tied in a loose bun, an apron tied tightly to her waist. It would be fun, she thought, looking up at the red drapes on top of her four poster bed.

Within the week Hermione had received a few replies but was yet still undecided on which job to choose. The one job that she wanted had still not got back to her, and she decided to wait another week until making a decision, just incase that one job he craved got back to her.


	2. Chapter 2

The young woman had kept her word and waited for a letter from The Three Broomsticks, when none arrived however she was very keen on going with the job offer in the book store, as The Hogs Head had also not got back to her. On the very day she had made up her mind, a letter arrived for her in the beak of a small barn owl that morning. With a small thank you to the bird which had landed in her bowl of cereal, she carefully opened the yellow envelope.  
"Who's it off?" asked Ginny with a grin.  
"The Light House," Said Hermione, scrolling her eyes down to the signature, "it's that new pub in Hogsmeade, they've offered me a job!" she squealed, flapping her hand in the air as she lifted herself off her seat, passing Ginny the letter.  
"Ooo, going to take it then?" the girl opposite her cooed.  
"Yes." Hermione smiled, she had really liked the young woman that she had left her details with.  
"It says here you can start this week!" Ron said, peering over his sisters shoulder as to get a glimpse of the letter.  
"Can we come with you?" Asked Ginny excitedly  
"Better not, but you can always come later, see how my first day is." she added, after seeing Ginny's face drop.  
"Sounds great." said Harry, finishing off the last of his corn flakes.

* * *

On the Saturday of that week, Hermione woke early in order to be the first one in the shower. Once showered, she wrapped her white towel around her slim body and stepped out of the bathroom, picking up her pajamas and placing them on her bed in the corner of the small room. With a quick spell and her wand pointed at her wet hair, it was suddenly dry, to which she uttered another charm to put small ringlets in. She walked over to her small chest of drawers, bending down she inspected her hair in the mirror, smiled and opened the top draw. Still wrapped in her towel, she pulled out her favourite underwear and quickly put them on, muttering a charm to make her invisible for the split second that she was naked. The girl knelt down and opened the third draw, in which she rummaged round, in an attempt to find the new black and peach blouse she had bought, and her dark blue high waisted jeans. She pulled them out of the draw and swiftly headed to her bed to put them on. Once dressed, Hermione picked up her long leather boots from the side of her bed and carefully put them on over the bottom of her jeans. Before leaving, she packed her bag and opened the bathroom door, looking at herself in the full length mirror. After yet another spell, her hair was up in a messy bun and she was ready. She headed to the door, picked her black leather jacket off the hanger and headed out and down the stairs into the common room. Walking down the staircase into the entrance hall, she put on her jacket and quickly put her arms through the handles of her small cotton back pack. She had sorted it all out with McGonagall, she was fine to leave the castle when she pleased as long as it was strictly between 8am and 7pm, and this suited her. Hermione was soon out of the castle and in the bright daylight.

* * *

Upon reaching the new building, she tentatively pushed open the solid brown wooden door.  
"Hello." she said feebly, walking up to the bar, seeing the short woman she had previously met.  
"Hermione, Hi!" she exclaimed, Hermione held out her hand for te woman to shake, instead, she wrapped her arms around Hermione's shoulders, startling her into an embrace. Once the woman's arms were back at her own side, she ushered Hermione into the back room, "Miss Roberts, but call me Hannah," the woman beamed "Well, it's lovely to meet you, I'm the new owner of this place, welcome to The Lighthouse" Hannah smiled, gesturing her hands around the small space in the corridor, "I'm sure you'll pick it all up like second nature," she told the schoolgirl, stopping in the middle of the slim hall, "you had an excellent CV!" she emphasized the word 'excellent' Hermione observed.

"Well..." Hermione blushed  
"Well, we shall discuss payment after today, as you will be on trail as of when the door opens," she gave a slight giggle, one very much like Umbridge's Hermione winced at the memory, "If you would like to follow me," she said moving once more, her straight bright blonde hair bounced off her shoulders with every step, "you will meet your colleague's." Hermione waited for the door to open before she took a quick glance inside, passed the small woman's shoulders. The two of them walked in together, Miss Roberts introducing her to everyone. Hermione smiled and shook hands with each member of the 'crew' as Hannah had put it. Suddenly one face greeted it's self to her, but this was one person she was all to familiar with.

"You." she breathed out in disgust, she couldn't believe she would have to be working with...with HIM. She could just cry right now, she knew she couldn't, but this was one part of her vision that she could definitely not see happen.  
"Granger," Malfoy sneered, his bleach white eyebrows cocking at the sight of her disgusted face, "Not happy mudblood?" he whispered, sending chills down her body. She sent him a look of pure hatred as she smiled sarcastically. She couldn't wait to get this day over with.

* * *

A.N. sorry that this is short and not that good, but its midnight and I'm tired, so next chapter will probably be up in the next 24 hours. Reviews welcome:)


	3. Chapter 3-Her First Day

Before Hermione even had time to react to seeing Draco Malfoy's pale face glaring down at her own, she was steered towards the bar. Once behind the counter Miss Roberts told the two 'new recruits' the ins and outs of working in a pub, and showed them everything they needed to know, from using the muggle till, to pouring pints.  
"Now, role-play-" Malfoy sniggered at Hannah's words, ignoring him, the woman carried on speaking, "-you will each pretend to be a customer, and the other be behind the bar."  
They both rose to the challenge, with Malfoy being first to be barman of course. Hermione made her way around the counter onto the other side. She stood ridged, looking at Malfoy's cold eyes,  
"One Butterbeer please." She tried to make her voice sound confident, but by Draco's menacing tone she supposed she had failed in doing so.  
"One Butterbeer coming up." he sniggered, pushing a glass up to the rod and pulling the wooden block towards himself. He pulled the glass away and spinned himself around before brandishing the glass of frothy liquid onto the counter before her.  
"Thankyou."  
"That will be one galleon please Miss." He told her, giving a sidewards glance to Hannah. Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out a single gold coin and placed it onto the counter, etching a fake smile onto her face. Draco fiddled with the till, and, eventually, managed to get it to open. Next, it was Hermione's turn. Draco sat up on the bar stool so he was just taller than her, "Firewhiskey please, love." he added onto the end. She winced at the word, it didn't sounds right coming from him. She turned her back and reached up to the firewhiskey , pushing the glass on the rod and giving him a shot. Her delivery was not quite as spectacular as his, but she certainly knew how to work the till. "Three galleons please." she said confidently as the till opened. She watched as Malfoy took four gold coins from his pocket. Without counting, he placed the coins into Hermione's outstretched hand,  
"Keep the change. Tip." he smirked taking a sip from the glass, but Hermione wasn't listening. She wasn't expecting to actually receive the coins in her hand like that, she wasn't expecting to feel his skin brush against hers. She continued to stare at her hand once she had put the money into the right slot in the till. His touch was so soft, so warm.  
"Right." Miss Robert's voice interrupted her thoughts, "that was very good, very good indeed. Now, it's opening time, so, if you will, Hermione," she exclaimed, clapping her hands together as she turned to face the tall, slim girl, "stand there and look pretty." Hermione smiled as the woman walked over to the door and reached up to unlock it. "We're open."  
It was from now that they were being watched, and Hermione couldn't help feel but a little nervous.  
"Er, excuse me," Malfoy's harsh voice rang in her ear as she sensed intense sarcasm, "but what, should I say, do you want me to do?"  
"Oh yes," the woman paced a finger in the air and quickly moved into the back room, returning with a large, crumpled red and white striped bundle. "You will wear this, and be an advertisement on the street." She told him, passing the material to Draco who opened it out, Hermione couldn't help but burst out laughing,  
"Shutup!" he shouted at her, "I'm not wearing that!" he stated, staring down at the large Lighthouse suit that he was holding.  
"Oh why not, oh look, its even got a little man drinking a pint in the window!" smirked Hermione, she couldn't wait for him to walk out onto the street dressed as a lighthouse.  
"It's alright for you!" he scowled at her, loathing how she, of all people, could get the easy job. As Draco slumped off towards the bathroom, an old woman walked slowly into the bar, followed by her husband who too, was old, and had a long white beard which reached the floor. As the two stumbled towards the counter, the man holding his back for support as he slouched over, Hermione stood and smiled at the couple.  
"Two butterbeers please dear." the woman whimpered.  
"Coming up." Hermione said, beaming. "That will be two galleons then please." she told the woman as she placed the drinks on the solid counter. Automatically, she outstretched her hand like before, in order to take the money. The old woman fiddled with her purse and placed the money into Hermione's hand, then took the two drinks to her husband, who was sitting in the corner of the large room. The room, Hermione observed, was very big, with lots of different sizes of tables sitting around, to which stools and chairs were stood with them. On each table, two or three brightly coloured menus were placed in the middle. Unlike The Three Broomsticks, this bar only had one room, and none upstairs, but the floor did have a few levels; one section of the room was raised slightly, like a stage, to which more tables and chairs were laid. Suddenly there was the sound of a door closing heavily, and Hermione turned her head quickly to see who it was. No sooner had she laid eyes on the sight that stood before her than a snort had escaped her, she couldn't help it, she clapped her hand to her face as she continued to laugh. Malfoy sent her daggers, his stare piercing through her body. He walked over to her, leaning himself in towards her pale face,  
"Shutup you filthy little mudblood, wait until my father hears about this." he spat out, whispering in her ear. She shivered as she felt his harsh breathe on her soft skin. He moved away from her ear and watched her for a moment as she suppressed her laughter, a look of pure hatred scratched onto his face.  
"You look lovely dear." The old woman chimed in from the corner of the room, Draco didn't respond, but instead turned his head to look at the woman, scowling at her words. Could he not be nice to anyone? Hermione wondered, she had a right mind to shout at him and tell him to be polite, but there was absolutely no point. At that moment, Hannah came in and shooed Draco towards the door, thrusting a pile of leaflets into his hands. As he finally pushed himself through the narrow door, another bustle of people walked in, smiling at the boy as he passed them. The group of witches sat themselves down at one of the tables near the bar and started to look at the menu in front of them, oohing and arring at the delicious choices.

At midday the pair were allowed to go on lunch break, as Draco had come back in to moan very loudly that he was in need of a break. They sat together in the back room, each slumped on an armchair, refusing to speak a word to each other. Sitting in silence, the two sipped the pumpkin juice and took small bites of their sandwiches, thinking about how the day had been so far; they had only been working for three hours and they were very much used to the job already.

The pub was yet to get busy, but Hermione was still quite warn out; there had been a lot of people coming and going, some staying for a while and some taking the odd cup or sandwich to go. She had talked to a few punters, asking them how there day was and what they thought of the new bar, many of the folk she asked were polite enough to reply, but there was some who preferred to have their drink or meal in peace. Even so, she had kept her smile on all the while and thanked anyone who complimented her. She couldn't wait for the place to get busier, so she could see what the job was really like.

Draco had been hard at work, well, he, thought he had. All the leaflets were gone, and the customers had picked up due to him, and he really was the best person for the job. He may have embarrassed himself, but he just had to keep reminding himself of that hefty pay package that he would get at the end of the day. There was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't get the job, he was perfect for it; a charming face and sense of humour was sure to go down well with the customers. That's if he ever actually got to meet any, he needed to be behind the bar, and he just hoped that the strange lady calling herself the owner would let him. Or there would be words with his father.

"It's starting to get a bit livelier!" Hannah's high pitched voice called to them, breaking the silence. At her words the two got up and headed to the bar, Draco walking ahead, in order to get the better job. As soon as both eyes saw the large room they could definitely tell it was a lot less empty than the start of the day, all but one or two of the tables were completely occupied, with large groups of school children sitting around talking and laughing together with different assortments of glasses and cups sitting on each table. "You will both help in here."  
Draco sighed heavily, he hoped that Granger would have had to dress as a lighthouse, but no.  
They both took their positions behind the bar and asked the person at the front of the queue their order. Suddenly all talking in the noisy room stopped, suddenly the two felt every single eye on them. The tension could be cut straight through with a knife as nobody dared move. No sooner had the chattering stopped, had it begun again, but this time, they were all talking about them. It was common knowledge that Malfoy hated Potter and his friends, especially the muggle born girl. Hermione assumed this was the reason for their talking, and they just weren't used to seeing the two not bickering. Suddenly a familiar face was staring at her,  
"Hello Seamus." She said smiling at the face.  
"What you doing here, with him?" He asked disgustedly, jerking his head towards Draco, who was currently serving another customer the other side of the bar.  
"What? It's nothing!" she gasped, taken aback by his sudden outburst, "I didn't know he got the job too! I didn't even know he was applying! I found out today when I arrived, it's no pleasure of mine!" the girl reassured him.  
"Well, Neville, Dean and I, well...we...we thought it was a bit odd...you two, well...Erm...a peachtree fizzing tea, a..." the boy looked over to the table were his friends were sitting, and shouted over to them, "Neville, what was it again?"  
"Gillywater please!" The boy shouted back.  
"One Gillywater," Seamus told Hermione, to which she replied with a nod and pushed a glass up to the metal rod, "and Daisyroot Draught for me please mate."  
"Thats eight galleons, two knuts please." She replied, smiling at her friend as she placed the last glass down and pushed the three towards her classmate. The tall boy placed the coins on the counter and removed a small silver sickle from his pocket, to which he gave to the barmaid,  
"Tip." He smiled, and walked away with the drinks before she could protest. She smiled to herself, looking down at the coin in her hand. Her first tip, if you don't count the one from Malfoy that is.

The bar was constantly getting busier, with each new student who walked in getting taken aback by the new staff. There were many eyebrows raised but both of them assured whoever asked that nothing was going on, nothing ever will, and they didn't know each other was working here, but there was still speculation from most; but they just had to shake it off and not let it bother them. They would get used to it next week, if both of them were still there that was. Once the stream of students asking for drinks died down, Hermione stood back from the bar and watched as the school children came and went, in a huddle or just with a couple of friends. There were no particularly rowdy groups, but at one point Miss Roberts had threatened to ring up the school when she found an underage witch drinking whiskey, at which point Draco was no where to be seen, as no surprise. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at this scene, Malfoy had probably fallen for her looks and granted her the wish of a sneaky whiskey when she asked. Boys, she sighed, shaking her head in disapproval as she went to ask the man sitting at the bar his order.

"Oh Merlin!"  
Hermione looked up from the till at hearing the familiar voice, seeing Ginny's shocked face, she laughed at her friend as the ginger haired girl walked up to her, opening and closing her mouth, unable to speak.  
"I didn't know he was applying." Hermione told her friend.  
"Bloody hell!" Ron's voice came through the crowd as he arrived next to his sister, followed by Harry, who was staring at Malfoy with pure hatred.  
"It's not easy for me either!" Hermione told them.  
"I would never bet Malfoy to be the one to get a job!" cried Ron  
"Wouldn't have thought he'd ever do a bit of hard work in his life that one." Said his sister as she too, stared over at the blonde boy carrying two glasses to a table. Hermione laughed, if only they knew what he had to do this morning.  
"What do you want anyway?" she asked, once seeing a queue start to form again.  
"Butterbeer, One Simison Steaming Stout, and bin juice for Ronald." the girl smirked.  
"No thanks!" Ron piped in, "I'll have Mead please 'Mione."  
"Coming up." she smiled. "Take a seat, I'll come over when I have my break." she told them, handing her friends their drinks.

The three did as she said and took a seat at the far corner of the room, minutes later the barmaid pulled up a seat next to them.  
"Tell us then, what's it like?" Asked Ginny  
"It's good." she beamed, thinking back on the day. It honestly had, this was her first day working and she had really picked it up, however she couldn't wait to be back in her warm, comfy bed.  
"How's HE been?" Asked Harry seriously.  
"Fine!" she told him, smiling at his protection, "Honestly, don't worry!"  
"Well..."  
"It's fine, look, all of you, I can handle him. Okay?" They nodded in agreement, it was true, they couldn't deny her that, but they all just wanted to make sure their friend was safe. "I've got to get back." She said, looking over her shoulder to see Malfoy struggling to keep up with demand. With a wave goodbye, she stood up and walked back to the bar, calling some of the queue over to her till. Malfoy made no effort to thank her.

As the working day came to a close, there was very few left in the pub, (as the students had all gone back up to school and only the village customers remained), and Hannah called the two into the back room and sat them down.  
"Well done, Well done!" she applauded them, clapping her hands excitedly, "You both did brilliantly, however, I will have to speak to my staff, and I will get back to you both, but you both did marvellous!"  
"Thankyou Miss Roberts." Hermione replied sweetly.  
"Oh Hannah, Hannah please," the short woman said, waving her hand in the air. "Hopefully, I'll see you next week!" she said happily, clapping her hands together in excitement. Draco scowled at the woman, she was all to happy for his liking he thought, taking a quick glance at Granger, who was smiling away, teachers pet. "Now here are your wages." Hannah suddenly had Draco's attention, he stood up and received the five galleons, Draco managed a small smile, which lasted a split second, before he turned to leave. Walking out the door he turned his head very slightly, catching a glimpse of Hermione taking the money out of the woman's hand.

The walk back to the castle was extremely awkward for Hermione, Draco was walking quickly in front, his eyes fixed straight ahead, his hands in his pockets. However, she was the opposite, with her arms tightly wrapping her jacket around her chest in the cold breeze, her head down, staring at her feet, calculating each step. She enjoyed talking to people, and wished Harry or Ron was here now to break the tension that was lingering in the air between the two figures.

Upon reaching the castle, the two went there separate ways and parted without saying one word to each other. Although the walk from the entrence hall to the common room was not long, it always seemed like it went on forever when she were not with her friends. She sighed to herself as she climbed the last moving staircase up to the portrait hole, at which she spoke the password and climbed into the warm, crimson, room.


End file.
